Daily Recap — April 22

“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.” –MacBeth

“Chill, bro. You just don’t see the whole picture yet.” — God

.

.

.

.

COMEY’S DIARY RELEASED

.

.

Lots of people keep personal diaries. Granted, they’re mostly 9-year old girls, but there are a lot of them.

This weekend we learned all about the private scribbles of Leakin’ James Comey — as in all the ones he hadn’t leaked himself already. All in all, the much-anticipated memo release was rather anticlimactic. We learned a little, but nothing to push the needle very far in either direction. Just a bunch of CYA from Señor Comey.

Nonetheless, we shall delve into the most important points:

.

.

1. Yes, Leakin’ James leaked those memos for the sole purpose of getting King Bob on the case.

.

After his firing, Comey leaked the memos to a “close friend” just so that the press would see them, which he knew would cause a media firestorm around possible obstruction of justice and prompt the naming of a special counsel. The narrative was that the memos showed that Comey was hot on Trump’s trail on #PutinGate, and thus PDT fired Comey to save his own bacon. LJC told the Senate Intelligence Committee in June 2017, “I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter. I didn’t do it myself for a variety of reasons but I asked him to because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel.”

Big problem though, LJC: Nothing in the memos that suggests PDT was actually attempting to obstruct justice. Other than that, awesome plan.

But hey, we all know it was about getting him in there so he could find whatever comes up. This was just an excuse to get Mueller in the door. The rest is history.

.

.

2. Redactions in the letter From The DOJ To Congress prove portions of the memos were classified.

.

Comey said he hadn’t broken the law by showing the memos to a third party, because they were unclassified personal “recollection.” But the letter from the DOJ to Congress states, “Therefore, pursuant to your request, we are providing the requested memoranda in both redacted and unredacted formats for your convenience. … The unredacted documents are classified, and we will provide those in a separate, secure transmittal to the House Security office tomorrow.”

Comey may swear up and down that he only leaked unclassified info, but folks who know what classified info looks like seem to differ.

Are you listening, DOJ? Leaking classified information is a crime. One that I and my colleagues took a hell of a lot of training and a hell of a lot of caution to avoid.

Any way you could hold him to the same standard as you held us all those years?

.

.

.

3. The DOJ lied through their teeth about the importance of the memos.

.

The DOJ refused to turn over the memos when requested under the Freedom of Information Act on the basis that they would interfere with the King Bob probe. Nothing in the memos suggest this to be even remotely true.

Why the dishonesty? Didn’t want the public to know that St. Comey had leaked classified info before the witch hunt got its legs under it?

Scum, all of them.

.

.

4. No, the memos don’t demonstrate obstruction of justice.

.

You know what a guy doesn’t do when he wants to shut down an investigation? He doesn’t go up to the FBI Director and make clear he wanted allegations of collusion, coordination, and conspiracy between his campaign and Russia fully investigated. That’s what Trump did with Comey. Yet, Comey still somehow felt that PDT might be trying to shut ‘er down. Funny how that works.

Furthermore, the memos demonstrate that PDT didn’t even want #PutinGate ended. Rather, all he wanted was for Comey to make public that he wasn’t a target in the investigation and that there was no evidence that he partook in any Russian hooker pee sports.

To top it off, Comey himself never wrote one word about feeling threatened or pressured to end anything. You’d think that would be a pretty big bulletin point in those memos of his, wouldn’t you?

Let’s not allow logic to intrude on a good soap opera, though.

.

.

5. Leakin’ James loved him some Deep State McCabe.

.

Remember the good ol’ days, when Leakin James was defending DS McCabe’s honor on Twitter from the big scary mob boss Trump? You know, before he was signaling his willingness to testify against McCabe in a court of law?

Pepperidge Farm remembers.

He didn’t just get jiggy with McCabe on Twitter, though. Comey repeatedly defended his deep state buddy from attacks by PDT, and said that DSM was nothing but a consummate professional.

Yeeeeeaaaaahhhh…..awkward.

Now McCabe may be indicted for leaking material to the press without Head Leaker Comey’s permission, and both the rats have different versions of what went down.

And as it turns out, all the “attacks on McCabe” that Comey whined about from Trump just happened to be 100% correct. He is a slimy, self-serving weasel.

Kinda like…..hey, Leakin’ James!

.

.

BIG PICTURE:

.

Comey didn’t help his case. Not only did he fail to tell us anything we didn’t already know, he hurt his own case for obstruction pretty badly. In fact he proved the opposite.

The most that can be gleaned from these memos are whispers, speculation and armchair psychology regarding the manner in which PDT handles his inner circle and surbordinates. If you think PDT acts like a mob boss, fine, but that’s not a crime.

Leaking classified info is, though.

It would be nice to see something done about that.

.

.

.

.

MIRACLE IN NORTH KOREA CONTINUES

.

.

Folks, this could be YUUUUUUUUUUGGGE.

As everyone not living under a rock knows by now, PDT is embroiled in a nuclear Mexican standoff with Rocket Man, whose nuclear arsenal was built with the expressed purpose of wiping America off the map.

Kim has been quite the smack-talker over the years, often invoking images of nuclear war and the mass destruction of the U.S., touting his destiny to bring down the evil-doers who helped the South to push back his granddad’s communist invasion.

That is, until he encountered a New Yorker who is more at home talking smack than doling our niceties.

Now, Lil Kim seems to have a newfound appreciation for the diplomatic process, asking us to join him at the negotiating table to see how this situation may be worked out without all those missiles of death he’s been touting the last few years.

Ain’t that sump’n.

So here’s the deal. We’re gonna break down this story into 3 parts: the good, bad and the big picture. Let’s go get an even better handle on the NK situation than we already do.

.

.

.

LET’S HOLD OUR HORSES FOR A SECOND:

.

There is (cautious) optimism abounds within the Trump base and elsewhere regarding the latest moves by Rocket Man, as there should be. It’s unprecedented. But we must stay clear-eyed about where we are and, more importantly, where we aren’t. As PDT noted on Twitter, there is still much to see before we can fly the victory flag. Let’s tackle that for a bit.

WHAT KIM IS DOING: North Korea said Friday it would suspend nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches ahead of summits with the U.S. and South Korea. Kim also said a nuclear test site to the north would be closed and “dismantled” now that the country has learned how to make nuclear weapons and mount warheads on ballistic rockets.

But…..

The North has stopped short of saying it has any intention of altogether abandoning its nuclear arsenal, with Kim making clear that nukes remain a “treasured sword.” And while PDT has tweeted that NK is “committed to denuclearization,” it’s not the same as actually agreeing to it.

South Korea, which is set to meet with North Korea later this week, has said Kim has expressed genuine interest in dealing away his nuclear weapons. But the thing Americans need to understand is that the North has been pushing a concept of “denuclearization” that bears no resemblance to the our definition, vowing to pursue nuclear development unless Washington removes its troops from the Korean Peninsula and the nuclear umbrella defending South Korea and Japan.

SK president Moonlight Inn has said Rocket Man isn’t asking for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula as a condition for abandoning his nuclear weapons. If true, that would be huge, as it would remove a major sticking point to a potential disarmament deal. However, that’s a very big ‘IF.”

In my analysis last week, I went into great detail about what NK would be ultimately looking for (a U.S. exit from the peninsula, essentially), and frankly, I would be shocked if that wasn’t still his aim when the summit is held, if for no other reason than he thinks he has a receptive audience in PDT, which he does. PDT is very sympathetic to the notion of redeploying American troops back home en masse.

Frankly, so am I. We have to take the training wheels off of these people sooner or later.

But assuming that the exit from Korea actually is off the table, that still doesn’t address a North Korean arsenal that now includes purported thermonuclear warheads and developmental ICBMs developed during a decadeslong cycle of crises, stalemates and broken promises.

And there’s the rub.

These latest announcements from Rocket Man, welcomed as they may be, are easily reversible. Tests could resume and sites can be recommissioned within a day’s time. Therefore, it’s imperative to get some front-end agreements, meaning Rocket Man actually begins dismantling his arsenal before any sort of sanctions relief is granted.

Many say that Kim Jong Un can’t be trusted and they’re exactly right, which is why we need verification. I’ve no doubt that PDT will demand verifiable dismantling before anything moves on our end.

He’s not stupid, unlike the endless string of politicians who got us into this mess in the first place.

.

.

THE GOOD PART:

.

This part is really simple.

I’ve explained this myriad times in the past, but it remains true today. Kim Jong Un hasn’t the slightest clue what to do about Donald Trump. Before PDT was elected, Rocket Man enjoyed sticking his thumb in our eye anytime he wanted with no pushback. No threat was over the line, no red lines reining in his irresponsible missile test.

Hell, when Barry was POTUS, Kim even intimidated Sony Studios into canceling distribution of “The Interview,” a movie poking fun at the Kim regime. And we just sat back and took it while this little commie fruit loop had his way with our country.

Our spine as a country was a #BigFatMess.

Now enter Donald J. Trump. Not only does he not sit back and listen to this little fat kid’s nonsense, he fires back 10x harder. When Kim threatened to fire missiles toward Guam (a U.S. territory), PDT famously responded that if a single missile found its way toward American land, Kim would be greeted with “fire and fury like the world has never seen.”

And whaddayaknow……Kim cancelled the launch a couple days later.

Then, upon hearing that Kim decided to open up his fat trap again and talk about the “nuclear button at his desk,” PDT (in)famously fired back that we have a nuke button, too, and ours is bigger and actually works!

While the Left were losing their minds about the inevitable OMG NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST to follow, Rocket Man was sitting back in his chair wondering what the hell he’d gotten himself into.

And now, we reap the rewards.

Here is why you should feel good. When Kim canceled that launch toward Guam, he proved two very important things: 1) He’s not completely nuts, and 2) He believes wholeheartedly that PDT isn’t playing around with his little punk ass.

That’s a very good basis from which to negotiate. One could even argue that it makes negotiation possible in the first place.

The second reason you should be hopeful is this willingness to make concessions on the part of the Kim regime isn’t as random as the legacy media would have you think. Without much fanfare, the Trump administration has levied some of the strictest and most successful sanctions our world has ever known, and Kim is hurting.

Sanctions are nothing new to North Korea. There hasn’t been a time in the last 30 years when NK wasn’t under sanctions of some sort. The difference has been the actual intestinal fortitude to carry them out. For instance, China and Russia have always done backdoor dealings with NK that rendered sanctions pretty much useless.

When the world cut off banking, there was China to pick up the slack. That is, until PDT levied tariffs on the Chinese government and said that things would get a whole lot worse until they got serious about reining in their southern neighbors. Then China suddenly realized the importance of a non-nuclear Rocket Man.

When the world cut off Rocket man’s oil, there was Russia sending over their tankers to shore up the supply. That is, until an American naval blockage met them right off the Korean coast and dared them to move forward to pump a single ounce. Then, Putin suddenly realized the importance of living up to his world and strangling the energy supply of a rogue regime.

Trump sanctions are a little different than everyone else’s. When he says something , he means it. And when you’re trying to get the attention of your enemies, that means everything.

And finally, the last reason you should be hopeful about denuclearization happened over the Easter holiday. Would-be Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had a pow-wow with Rocket Man to lay out the groundwork for the big Trump/Kim talks.

Pompeo is brilliant, tough and knows the Kim regime like the back of his hand. Most importantly, he walks in lockstep on this issue and is able to speak to other world leaders as PDT’s mouthpiece.

Pompeo undoubtedly made it crystal clear to Rocket Man that he would have to deliver the goods if any kind of negotiation has hope to survive. We don’t have to worry about Kim coming to the negotiating table a month from now under any misapprehensions. He knows that anything less than a willingness to dismantle his nukes is a waste of our time, and will likely lead to his demise.

Kim implemented the latest concessions after meeting with Pompeo, which likely means he’s doing so as part of the overall vision that was laid out by our administration. That’s a big deal. It means, for all intents and purposes, that the dealmaking has already commenced.

Now we just need to see more steps carried out.

.

.

.

THE BIG PICTURE:

,

Gonna keep it simple, because it really is.

No, we shouldn’t trust Rocket Man or start counting our chickens pre-hatch. He’s going to have to actually dismantle his program before we allow his starving country to enter the 21st century economy.

That being said, I believe we have very good reason to be hopeful. If any other POTUS were at the helm, I’d be much more skeptical than I am, but the fact that Kim has proven his fear of PDT in the past shows me that we have some real grease with which to cook.

All the skeptics who are sounding off right now are the same folks who, up until now, couldn’t fathom the Un regime taking the steps they’re taking right now. They have an utter lack of capacity to think outside the box whatsoever. They clutched their pearls when PDT gave it back to Kim on Twitter and screamed bloody murder during every other step of the process.

Bottom Line: Trump’s way is working. There’s isn’t.

Trust the president.

.

.

.

.

.

THE DNC STEPS IN IT GOOD THIS TIME

.

.

The Dim National Committee filed a frivolous lawsuit Friday alleging the Trump campaign, WikiLeaks, and the OMG RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT conspired together, maaaaaaaaaaaaan, in the 2016 presidential election to make DNC emails public.

The first point is that yes, the lawsuit is indeed frivolous. There is no evidence of collusion between the Trump camp and either of those parties, much less proof. The suit is a farce on its face and would serve as a source of embarrassment had the DNC any shame. Unfortunately, they don’t, and so it moves forward.

The second thing to know is this is nothing but an election year fundraising stunt, period. In fact, fundraising letters about the lawsuit were sent out to prospective donors before the suit had even been announced publicly.

It may seem stupid to you, me or anyone else with a couple brain cells to rub together, but to the far left base who yield the majority of political activism for the Dim party, stuff like this gets the ol’ juices flowing. They love litigation almost as much as Russian conspiracy theories. Put the two together and you’ve got a fundraising coup.

And boy, do they need one.

Last month the DNC took out a $1.7 million loan to keep their ship afloat. This made their total debt over $6 million. Conversely, Republicans reported a record $13.9 million in fundraising in that same time period. This brings the RNC’s first-quarter fundraising to $39 million and takes its total fundraising in the 2018 cycle to $171.6 million.

The Republicans fundraising arm finished March with $42.9 million cash on hand and reported no debt.

While caught up in their cash-fueled zeal, the Dims stepped right into a flaming pile of their own supply. I’ll allow the Trump campaign to explain in their official statement. Pay special close attention to the third paragraph:

“Today, the Democratic National Committee filed a wide-ranging, partisan civil lawsuit in federal court against the Trump Campaign, WikiLeaks, and the Russian Government. In response, Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. notes that this frivolous lawsuit is a last-ditch effort to substantiate the baseless Russian collusion allegations by a nearly-bankrupt Democratic Party still trying to counter the will of the people in the 2016 presidential election. This civil lawsuit is completely without merit and will be dismissed in due time.

“This is a sham lawsuit about a bogus Russian collusion claim filed by a desperate, dysfunctional, and nearly insolvent Democratic Party,” said Brad Parscale, Campaign Manager of Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. “With the Democrats’ conspiracy theories against the President’s campaign evaporating as quickly as the failing DNC’s fundraising, they’ve sunk to a new low to raise money, especially among small donors who have abandoned them. There is a great deal the American public wants to know about the corruption of the Democrats, their collusion to influence the 2016 presidential election, and their role in prompting a scam investigation of the Trump Campaign. While this lawsuit is frivolous and will be dismissed, if the case goes forward, the DNC has created an opportunity for us to take aggressive discovery into their claims of ‘damages’ and uncover their acts of corruption for the American people,” he concluded.

If this lawsuit proceeds, the Trump Campaign will be prepared to leverage the discovery process and explore the DNC’s now-secret records about the actual corruption they perpetrated to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Everything will be on the table, including:

• How the DNC contributed to the fake dossier, using Fusion GPS along with the Clinton Campaign as the basis for the launch of a phony investigation.

• Why the FBI was never allowed access to the DNC servers in the course of their investigation into the Clinton e-mail scandal.

• How the DNC conspired to hand Hillary Clinton the nomination over Bernie Sanders.

• How officials at the highest levels of the DNC colluded with the news media to influence the outcome of the DNC nomination.

That’s right, my peoples. Between the two sides in this lawsuit, there is one side with far more to hide…..and they just put it on the chopping block. They will be subject to deposition by Trump lawyers and the discovery phase will force them to submit evidence that they fought like hell to keep private up to now.

It’s for this reason that I don’t see the DNC allowing this suit to go forward very far, even if survives a motion to dismiss, which I’m not even sure the Trump campaign wants to file.

BOTTOM LINE: They’ll use this pending litigation to boost their fundraising numbers for the next couple months, but when the time comes to put up or shut up, they’ll back off.

They don’t want their servers anywhere near a discovery phase of a major lawsuit.

.

.

.

.

.

WE AIN’T EVEN SAFE IN WAFFLE HOUSE NO MO

.

A nekkid nutjob walked into a Nashville, TN Waffle House armed to the gills, killing four people and injuring several more.

Here is what I know so far.

.

.

WHAT HAPPENED?

.

Travis Reinking, 29, approached a Waffle House in Antioch around 3:23 a.m. (4:23 a.m. ET) and used an “assault-type rifle” (semi-automatic to people who actually know guns) to fatally shoot two people standing outside. Reinking, who was friggin naked at the time, then went inside the restaurant and continued firing. Two victims inside were also fatally shot. Others were wounded, suffering cuts to their faces and bodies from shattered windows.

.

The shooting ended when a patron, James Shaw Jr., was able to wrestle the weapon away from Reinking, who then fled on foot like the coward he is.

.

.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE SHOOTER?

.

.

A decent bit, actually.

.

Reinking is from Morton, Illinois. He moved to the Tennessee in 2017.

.

According to the cops, he was once arrested by the Secret Service for trespassing near the White House. In July 2017, he told a DC Metropolitan officer that he must get into the White House to speak with the PDT, according to the arrest report. The officer explained that he must get a tour to do that and told Reinking to move away from the pedestrian entrance, but the report states Reinking told the officer again that he had to speak with the President and that he was a “sovereign citizen” who had a right to inspect the grounds.

.

After telling Reinking to move again, the report states that Reinking took his tie off, balled it into his fist, began approaching the officer and walked past the security barriers.

.

“Do what you need to do. Arrest me if you have to,” Reinking said, according to the report.

.

And so they did. Reinking was charged with unlawful entry, but had his charges dismissed after completing community service.

.

The FBI interviewed Reinking shortly after he completed the program and seized his guns. However, authorities in Tazewell County, Illinois, later returned the seized weapons to Reinking’s father, who gave them back to his son. One of those guns was the AR-15 reportedly used in today’s attack.

.

There’s a lot more to the story of Reinking’s run-ins with cops, however.

.In May 2016, police were called to a CVS parking lot, where Reinking was threatening to kill himself. Family present at the time said that Reinking had delusions since 2014 involving singer Taylor Swift, whom he believed was stalking and harassing him.
.Reinking told officers that Swift had told him to meet her at a Morton Dairy Queen and had hacked his phone and Netflix account. Reinking also believed that his family and police were involved in the harassment.
.At the time, Reinking’s family informed police that he was in possession of firearms, but incredibly, there is no record of any action being taken to remove the guns from Reinking’s possession at the time. I don’t blame the police for that one. If you have a family member who thinks pop stars are hacking into. his friggin Netflix, how about make sure the gun cabinet stays locked? Is that too much to ask?

.

It doesn’t end there, though.
.In June 2017, Reinking exposed himself at a pool while wearing a pink woman’s house coat.. Earlier the same day, he had gotten into a shouting match with a crane company employee, who said Reinking was wearing the house coat and holding an AR-15 rifle.

.

The guy was completely coo-coo for cocoa puffs. If the reports of his father giving him back his firearms is true, then the father should be locked up right along beside him. What a complete failure of common sense and dereliction of social responsibility.

.

.

.

SO WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US NOW?

.

.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) has added Reinking to its “Top 10 Most Wanted List” and launched a massive manhunt for him. They believe he may still be armed and dangerous, and are pretty sure he’s crazier than hell.

.

“Keep your doors locked, keep your eyes open. If you see this individual — if you see a nude guy walking around this morning — call the police department immediately,” the TBI said in a statement.

.

He faces felony charges, including three counts of criminal homicide.

.

In Tazewell, Illinois, where Reinking’s guns were originally seized, Sheriff Robert Huston said in a press conference today that he wasn’t sure if Reinking is headed back to the area, but that his department is ready for it.

.

Here is the shooter’s mug:

If you see him, fill him full of lead.

.

.

.

.

.

A REMINDER THAT GOD LOVES US

.

.

Taken from the LMAO Files:

Well well well, it looks like the Anointed One in Utah just might have to work for his seat after all.

Mitt Romney failed to win the Utah Republican Party’s nomination for Senate on Saturday, meaning he must compete in a June primary election to replace retiring US Sen. Orrin Hatch.

.

Despite a wild and raucous day of voting at the Utah GOP convention that saw Mitt employ the best #NeverTrump political operatives money could buy on the convention floor, the stormin’ Mormon was unable to win the 60% that he needed to head to the November ballot unopposed. When none of the 12 candidates were able to cross that threshold, the party continued with successive rounds of caucus voting until one candidate reached 40%.

.

On the second round of voting, Utah state representative Mike Kennedy (the good kind of Kennedy, not the leave-young-women-to-die-slow-horrible-deaths-at-the-bottom-of-lakes kind) emerged in the lead with 50.88%. Romney came in a close second with 49.12%.

.

Romney and Kennedy will now compete in a primary set for June 26.

.

.

After the vote, Romney said he was looking forward to a primary race.

.

“This is terrific for the people of Utah, and I really want to thank the delegates who stayed so late to give me the kind of boost that I got here today,” Romney said, standing on the convention floor after the proceedings were adjourned. “We’re going to have a good primary.”

.

Yeah….if you think Romney is stoked about having to deal with a primary in June rather than running opposed, you know the saying about bridges for sell. I’ve got a huge one in Brooklyn.

.

Kennedy, who had framed the race as David vs. Goliath, said when asked why he had edged out Romney in the vote that he wasn’t sure.

“I don’t know,” Kennedy said when asked why he thought his message appealed more to delegates than Romney’s. “I don’t know — it’s just my message.”

.

“We’ve got 60 days to reach out to as many voters as we can.”

.

.

.

BIG PICTURE:

.

.

Despite this more-than-welcome surprise, Romney is considered a favorite to win the seat. He is widely admired in this heavily Mormon state, where he helped rescue the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games.

.

There’s also the fact that he has very deep pockets. And with everything else being equal, which they appear to be, that should make a huge difference over the next couple months leading into the primary. Romney already has the name recognition advantage and could maximize it through various media vehicles, from television to internet to radio.

.

However..…

.

GOP activists on the ground in Utah really don’t like the guy. It’s true that Utah is by far the weakest state in terms of Trump support, partly because of the more moderate stance of Utah Republicans generally and partly because of the Mormon Church’s stance on immigration. A decent Democrat (assuming one exists) might have actually beaten Trump there in 2016. Thankfully, the Dims were nice enough to nominate Lucifer, which helped us immensely.

.

But that doesn’t negate the fact that there is a groundswell of anti-establishment fervor that threatens not only Romney but other swamp-dwellers across the country seeking public office in November. These preliminary results should be a wakeup call to Turtle McConnell and every other establishment jackass who thought the Trump movement died with Sloppy Steve Bannon’s debacle in Alabama.

.

Romney may carry a big enough stick in Utah to cross the finish line with his NeverTrump nonsense, but he finds himself in a fight he didn’t count on because of it. And if it’s a liability for a guy like Romney in Utah, just think about an establishment guy running for a seat in, say, Ohio.

.

So do I think Romney will lose the Utah primary? No, frankly.

.

But it’s not out of the realm of possibility. And that, in itself, is a very big deal. I hope Turtle is paying attention. If we can make his life hell in Utah, we can do it anywhere.

.

GO MIKE KENNEDY!

.

There it is, homeskillet. You know the drill: questions, comments, concerns, memes, insults, compliments, stickers, jokes, emojis and, if we have time, complaints.

Donations

Hi everyone, if you enjoyed this article and feel that I’ve earned a tip, I would greatly appreciate any help you can give. If you would like to give more than $3, simply change the number in the box to multiply the donation. If not, I still love you and keep up the good fight!